Saturday, December 20, 2008

My beautiful Dragon Brooch arrived today. Even though it's my Christmas pressie from Hubby, I had to play with it a bit, see how it looked on the scarf, and just generally handle it. I love it, it's the perfect accent. I'll probably give it a few day's tryout in the field, you know, before wrapping it up and putting it under the tree.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

When knit up in bulky yarn, this pattern goes quite quickly. I used the cable pattern from the Irish Hiking Scarf by Adrian Bizilia for the bulk of the project, the scarf portion, and then altered the Pfeiffer Falls Hooded Scarf (Anne Kuo Lukito in Interweave Knits Winter 08) cables to match the Irish Hiking cables, and to learn how to add a hood to an existing scarf. I didn't really know how to adapt the short rows used in Pheiffer Falls for this, so I just used decreases as if for a mitten to go over the crown of my head. I'm very pleased with the overall outcome.

I LOVE how when I grafted the cable on the hood together, that the cable pattern was intact. I didn't plan on it, it was a very pleasant surprise. And the crown decreases worked out nifty, too.

I wanted a brooch or pin to help keep the scarf snug around my neck, so I ordered this brooch from Crafty Celts, and told my husband it was his Christmas gift to me. He's the best!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

I did it! It's all done. The list I put together for knitted Christmas gifts is officially now complete. The second Sea Minerals mitten was steam blocked today.

And although it's a long time coming, I've been promising you pics of the blocked Willistead mittens. Here ya go!

It feels good to know that my friends will be receiving something that I put my time, effort, and love into. This is one of the things I love about Christmas, creating gifts for the special people in my life.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

I finished the second Sea Minerals Mitten last night, with the exception of the thumb, which I totally forgot to knit with the waste yarn. Absolutely forgot. So instead of a peasant thumb, it will become an afterthought. Otherwise it's just a sock without a heel for your hand! This particular pair of mitts will go to my son's girlfriend.

KnitPicks has an adorable freebie download that I may also try to knock out before Christmas: the Cathedral Purse. This could be a good stash buster project. No promises, just a thought that if I have the time......

Isn't it cute? This is the pic off the website, using their Shine Sport yarn.

Monday, December 1, 2008

It was a lovely Thanksgiving. We had our usual meal of pork roast with crackling, roast potatoes and parsnips, monkey bread, veggies, gravy, dessert.... yum! Our son came home from college, our daughter didn't have to work and was able to spend time with us and her friends, hubby got to work on his 77 corvette a bit, and I knitted. We also watched a lot of movies we hadn't gotten a chance to see in the theaters.

While we didn't emerge at the crack of dawn on Black Friday, my daughter and I did go out at lunchtime, had lunch and shopped, just the two of us. Later on while the fellows hung the house lights, we got the decorations and tree out of the attic and decked our halls. This year we put out fewer items, but they were the bits and bobs that really mean a lot to us. Katie loves doing the tree, and went for a beautiful understated theme, putting only the collectible decorations on the tree. She did a wonderful job, as usual, and I love how it turned out.

The cat approves, as well, and she wasted no time in staking out her claim under the tree. This will be her spot for the duration, even when the gifts start appearing.

I made these stockings for the kids back in 1991. They were felt kits that took a month each to make, during my lunchtimes. They get used every year, and hold quite a lot of goodies. Katie asked me if I would be making the grandkids, when they appear down the road, stockings like those, and I said most likely, because I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I love the tradition of it all.